Nigeria, England, America, Jamaica ; are you proud of where you're from? Dark skinned, light skinned, afro, weaves, who are your true brothers and sisters?
When two brothers from different continents go down the street to buy a pint of milk, they lift the lid on a disunited nation where everyone wants to be an individual but no one wants to stand out from the crowd.
A debut work produced at the Royal Court Theatre in February 2007 as part of its Young Writers Festival , Gone Too Far! is a comic and astute play about identity, history and culture. portraying a world where respect is always demanded but rarely freely given.
Set on a London housing estate it depicts the experience of young multicultural Londoners and the issues of identity and culture that both unite and divide the characters.
Gone Too Far! premiered at the Royal Court Theatre as part of its Young Writers Festival on 2 February 2007. It was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, 2008 .
“Once you stop thinking that the whole world has declared war on you, you will see how great your life is” Idk what to say about this book it was kinda good but not really my thing. I also didn’t like any character that much my favorite is probably Blazer
Expecting some depth in the discussion of racial minorities, this was a reasonably constructed play largely in a mixed patois that felt every interaction between family, friends and 'enemies' was premised on little but aggression, and never took off for me.
The nice tidy ending was as undramatic as the aggressive language was dramatic, but that's not enough to carry a supposed treatise on race and racism, national pride and false pride. Even the episodes with the outsiders (the Muslim shopkeeper, the old white lady, the two policement), which stereotyped impressionistic racism lacked any real teeth.
Starts out well, exploring the relationship between two brothers on a council estate, but soon becomes too cliche KIDULTHOOD. I found the "message" too heavy-handed and the tone rather preachy.
This was a great play. Engaging characters, moving plot.
The most interesting and forward-moving part of the book was the main character, Yemi. From the moment we see him we are rooting for him though we hope he will change. More as the plot moves on we fear something horrible will happen to him (or through him) if he doesn't change. We understand him and feel with him and yet . . . Dayisi, his bother is more temperate. Like a ideal-eyed doe (and later, a deer caught in headlights) we feel Dayisi might survive. We hope the world (Yemi) can be more like Dayisi, yet we are afraid for it at the same time.
The only downside of the book was the ending. It's a hopeful ending and I want to give that credit: we all hope and want life to be more like that, where we learn and grow and our horrible premonitions and fears vanish. It was too neat of an ending that didn't leave me as a reading audience with enough questions to wrestle with.
Bola is an inspiring voice. She tells a story of identity with heart, and fear. It's very eye opening and was about a subject I knew nothing about. Bola is a wonderful person and a talented writer.